Movies in Your Spare Time #3

Friends with Benefits

4.5 Stars

         Friends with Benefits is a great romantic comedy for any age group with star actor Justin Timberlake, and star actress Mila Kunis.  When I first saw previews for this film I thought it was just copying "No Strings Attatched", with actor Ashton Kutcher.  That film came out a couple years before Friends with Benefits.  In my opinion, I thought Friends with Benefits was done much better.  The acting from Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis was better, and although similar endings, the plot seemed to be much more creative in Friends with Benefits, particulalry the ending.   

         I thought the technique used in this film was very well done.  The transitions between scenes really popped out at me with long range shots of New York City and Los Angeles from above.  I thought the dialogue was very fast paced.  When the dialogue is up beat like that it shows the viewer that the boy and girl do have a connection with each other. 

         I thought this film was enjoyable from start to finish.  A 4.5 out of 5 is a huge honnor to the film, especially coming from myself.  I would reccomend seeing this film.  The intended audience is mainly teens but I could really see anyone watching this film, including my mom who seems to be watching it everytime I enter the room. 

Movies in Your Spare Time #2

That's My Boy

4.3 Stars

         That's My Boy is in my opinion the funniest comedy of the year.  This screwball comedy had a star cast featuring Adam Sandler, Andy Sandburg, and directed by Sean Anders.  Sean Anders is famous for his comedy movies such as "Sex Drive".  The small plot in this movie was Adam Sandler trying to make ammends with his distant son. 

         The techniques used with the camera angles varied a lot.  For all of the conversations between Adam and Andy that were funny, there were many quick close in camera angles between the characters and the style was very upbeat.  The conversations seemed to be rapid with several subtle funny remarks.  I thought that the director didn't have too much of a mesage as there was no real closure in the end of the movie to anything.  But throughout the movie there were some serious moments about their relationship and how it changed over time.  So a small message I took from this film was don't take anything for granite, especially friends and family.
          

As you can see I found this film hilarious.  This is the first film Andy Sandburg and Adam Sandler have been in together and I thought they were a great duo.  I gave this movie a 4.3 out of 5 stars because of the originality.  I felt like this movie was different with plot than any other comedy before.  Sean Anders also brought in New York Jet head football coach Rex Ryan for a couple scenes which adds another element of comedy. 

Trading Bases

         For our 1935 Movie my group created a movie called Trading Bases.  The plot of our movie starts with our main character (Tyrone Power), proposing to his girlfriend, (Janet Gaynor).  But in the next couple days after, Tyrone is drafted to the war as a pilot.
         He leaves without telling Janet because he is scared to tell her.  When Janet finds out she realizes she can't live without Tyrone, and heads off to France to go see him.  Meanwhile Tyrone realizes he also can't live without Janet.  So Tyrone fakes his own death and flies back home to see her.  This is where the title Trading Places comes from.
         Janet heads to France and is then under the impression Tyrone is dead.  But when she comes home she is in for a pleasant surprise as Tyrone and Janet are reunited.
         This war drama is good for a 1935 audience, so the audience can feflect back on World War I and realize how many families the war effected.  The reason it is a war drama is because it is about war and the drama caused by war particularly with romance.  There is not much of a message in Trading Bases because it is a big time Hollywood film, and we were just trying to entertain an audience.   
         The reason we picked these characters is because they were all employed by 20th Century Fox in 1935.  20th Century Fox was a good studio choice because they had a lot of money.  They also had no real war movies before this and 20th Century Fox wants to keep up with RKO.  We also had a supporting actor, (Raymond Griffith).  He plays Tyrone's general at war, and he is very hard on his solders.
         One of the biggest factors on why we picked this cast was because of age.  Tyrone Power was around 20 in 1935, which makes him perfect for being drafted to World War I.  Janet Gaynor was also around the same age which makes the film more credible.  As or Raymond Griffith, he was in his late 30's.  Typically in leadership roles, age and experience is vital, so that is why we thought Raymond Griffith would be perfect for the role of a general.
          Our directer is John Ford, who was a very famous director in the 1930's for 20th Century Fox.  John Ford is most famous for western movies, so we all figured that a war movie could be right up John Ford's ally.  We chose cinametographer James Howe.  He was a great choice because of his expertise in long focus.  James Howe was also very sought out by nearly every company.
         Theres not much I would do differently from what my group and I decided on.  I probably would have choosen a different company just because 20th Century Fox did not have the top actors and actresses.  Plus the were very unfamiliar with war movies. 

Formal Film Study Project

         For my formal film studies project, I watched three boxing movies.  I watched Cinderella Man, Rocky, and Raging Bull.  These films mainly had a lot in common, but there were a few differences I noticed with the themes.  I thought as far as plot went that Rocky, and Cinderella Man had the most in common.  The reason being is because James Braddock, and Rocky Balboa both seemed to be hometown favorites, and underdogs.  They were fighting for not just themselves but in James Braddock's case, his family and country.  As Rocky was fighting for his girlfriend and hometown.  Meanwhile Jake Lamotta, who is the man character in Raging Bull, seems to be a big time boxer, who causes most of his problems on himself.
             James Braddock's adversity throughout the movie was not caused by himself, it was caused by the American economy.  Rocky's problems are tough read how they were inflicted.  Part of me feels he is a little slow mentally, but I also feel that he chose bad paths as they show in many scenes he plays the role of a bounty for one of his bosses.  He also didn't seem like he chose good friends, such as Adrian's brother, who was a bad influence on him.  Meanwhile, in Raging Bull I felt that most of Jake's problems where self inflicted.  He was involved deeply with the mob, and cheated on his wife in many occasions.
           All three movies did have a women present as one of the main characters.  Rocky had his girlfriend, Adrian, who was his only real family throughout the film.  James had a wife who he was fighting for, along with 3 kids.  Family was present the most throughout Cinderella Man, as James Braddock had to fight for his family and his lively hood.  And Jake had many wives in which he was never really concerned about.
         The main difference between Raging Bull, and Cinderella Man and Rocky was the ending.  In Rocky and Cinderella man, both men came from almost nothing to achieving there goals.  James Braddock's story was about how he rose then fell horribly, and then rose again.  As for Jake's story, it was how he rose then fell horribly, which turns the film into somewhat of a tragedy.
                                                                                  All three of these boxing films are very well respected and are a top of the boxing movies.  These movies have taught our society.  They have showed us that no man is perfect, and people make mistakes.  But there are always opportunities to fight and keep fighting after mistakes and adversity has been present.